HORS D'OEUVRE: Nietzsche's Language and Use of Language

hat is announced in the program as an "opening lecture" is in fact a T sort of "hors d'oeuvre ." It stands outside the actual meal but gives an indication of what is to come. I would like to use this lecture, this "hors d'oeu vre ," to say something about the context in which we have organized this conference. When I speak of "we," I am referring to the Nietzsche Research Group. That is the group working on the creation of a dictionary for Nietzsche's writings. It is the dictionary group that organized this conference, and we did so in view, of our work on the dictionary. We were hoping to learn a great deal for our work from the papers and from the discussions of Nietzsche's language and his use of language among the experts who have gathered here today. We were also hoping to get some reactions to our dictionary work from your side. For my part, I would like to use this opportunity to give you an idea of our work and especially of a number of difficulties that we have come across.